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long-neck giant
Erketu
Say it like this: “er-kee-tu”
Erketu ellisoni
Erketu ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Mongolia.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Santonian) · roughly 100.5 to 83.6 million years ago
- Named in
- 2006 · Ksepka, D. T.; Norell, M. A.
- Hip height
- 2.8 m · 9 ft
- Length
- 15 m · 49 ft
- Weight
- 5 tonnes
- Found in
- Mongolia · Bayanshiree
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- long-neck giant · Sauropod
- Family branch
- Euhelopodidae
The story in short
The genus Erketu dates to 2006, the year D. T. Ksepka and M. A. Norell described it. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.
Fossils referred to Erketu date to the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Santonian), roughly 100.5 to 83.6 million years ago. Finds come from Mongolia, including the Bayanshiree Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Erketu at a length near 15 m, hips about 2.8 m high, and a body mass around 5 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Euhelopodidae, among the sauropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Euhelopus
Euhelopus zdanskyi
Early Cretaceous (Berriasian · Valanginian) · roughly 143.1 to 132.6 million years ago
Gobititan
Gobititan shenzhouensis
Early Cretaceous (Albian) · roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago
Liaoningotitan
Liaoningotitan sinensis
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago